The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1887-07-14
GOV. MARTIN DENIES
STATEMENTS ABOUT ATonlsoN

STATEMENTS ABOUT ATonlso,
Regarding Her bankruptcy, Owing to tn
Abolition Of saloons-Ths Story Started
by a Rival City In M,ssouri-Town In I
| aGood Condition and Fiourishing. \
CHICAGO, July 13.-The following wa
received here to-day:
| "kansas Property CO. Saloon Interest:
STATE OF KANSAS. EXECUTIVE
DEPARTMENT, TOPEKA, KAs July IL. 4
William Henry Smith, General Manager, A.oeiail
Prts; - Ftt7f liSAHTg E,gd I. Il =
My DEAR SIMON the End OF Jul
inst, a special dispatch was sent lroi
st, Joseph, No., to a Chicago paper, i
which It was stated that the closing q
the saloons In Atchfsou, kas., has cut oj
tho most profitable source Of revenue
amounting to Thousands OF dollars year
and az result the city has not reyenu
to keep going; that the police force will
the exception OF the marshal and on
policeman had been suspended: that tn,
services Of tho fremen were 10 be dis
pensod with, and that the gas and electri,
lights were to be shut Off," .I5G57
This dispatch was utilized by the Asso
ciatedi Press, and thus published in al
parts Of the country. As a reault I hav,
received many letters from different sec
tions, making inquiry as to the truth O
the statement 1t embodied, and have seer
ita alleged facts commented on In dozsnl
Of newspapers as evidence that the aboli.
ton Of saloons has reduced q prosperou,
city In Kansas to tho verge OF bankruptcy
Similar letters have been received by sh,
Mayor Of .Atchison, and by those OF many
other cities OF Kanaas. iI'T7'
JEALOUSY OF A RIVAL CITY, sIaa
The despatch referred to was prompted
by two motives. 1t was first sent from 6
town in Missouri, for the purpose Of injur
ing a rival city in Kansas; and second, i,
was Inspired by the whisky interest, anc
intended to create the impression that an
efficient city government could not be
maintained without the revenue obtained
from saloon licenses. The city Of A,chi
son has been for many years one OF the
most important railroad and com.
mercial centres Of Ksnsas. II the
whisky interest could create the
impression that Atchison b had beer
materially injured because the seloonf
had been driven out OF it serious blow
would be dealt the temperance cause,
The Associated Press In giving this false
special such vida publicity was made the
unconscious agent Of malicious SANDER,
whose purposes were as unworthy as the
statements were founded. l deem It nv
duty to correct the false impression thue
created, and respectfully ask that this let.
ter be given az wide a circulation es the
dispatch which prompts it. !
CONDITION OF ATcHIsoN,
I am thoroughly familiar with the con.
dition of the city Of Atchison, and per.
sonally know that the statements en-.
bodied in the St. Joseph dispatches are
false and misleading. The gas, electric
lights and water supply OF the CITY have
never been turned oil. It's fire depart.
ment has been, and is, continuously on
duty. Its police force has been largely
reduced, but has, in the absence of sa.
looms, been ample to preserve the peace
and protect the property Of its citizens. A
dispute concerning taxation and involy-
ing the adoption Of q tax which has been
collected In the city Of St. Joseph fol
many years past, is the only foundation
for the malicious and untruthful dispatch
from that place. 1Y-.1} ia s Z;
Atchison abolished the list OF it's saloons
In the fsll Of 1886. The whisky interests
said this action would seriously ipiure the
business Of the city. 1t has had no such
effect. Atchison is more prosperous TO-
day than it has been for years past. Its
Wholesale trade aggregated near forty mil
lion dollars in 1856, and during the frat
six months Of 1887 this trade has increas.
cd nearly 80 per cent over that for the
corresponding six months Of 1856.
\ cRNTER SHOT. AZ
Better than all, hundreds OF thousands
Of dollars, that we're formerly wasted in
saloons, are now expended in feeding and
clothing and housing the people, and as a
result thousands Of wives and children in
Atchison who were living in poverty a
lew years ago ate now prosperous, happy
and contsnted. sfll5 t.s ss'. -
The summing up Of the facts Of the
census OF those cities confute and con-
found those,who assert that the. material
prosperity Of any community is promoted
by the presence Of saloons. 50 far as Kan
aas and all other cities and towns
are concerned the reverse of this assertion
is true. The moat wonderful era Of prog
perity, oil material moral and intellectual
development Of growth in the country
cities and towns ever witnessed on the
American continent, has been illustrated
in Kansas during the six years since the
temperance amendment to our consttu,
ton was adopted, and especially during
the past two years, the period Of its moat
complete enforcement. KS, 4s5,1 (,
Yours very respectfully, E.
6s Jo4SA. MARTIN.